Brown leading Penn football at the half, 14-7

A bitterly cold rain has kept most fans from attending Penn football’s homecoming game against Brown.

It apparently drove away Penn’s offense for much of the first half as well.

After four consecutive punts to begin the afternoon, Penn’s offense came alive on its final possession to cut a 14-0 deficit in half, scoring on a one-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Adam Strouss with 39 seconds left in the second quarter to create a 14-7 ballgame at the break.

Starting quarterback Alek Torgersen got off to an inefficient start — completing just four of his nine passes — which prompted coach Al Bagnoli to mix in Strouss in early down situations.

With both Strouss and Torgersen taking snaps, the Quakers drove 65 yards to score, the biggest play coming on a toss from Torgersen to wideout Justin Watson that came up just short of the end zone before Strouss punched it in two plays later.

Before Strouss jolted Penn’s offense to life, the story of the day had been the performance of Bears backup quarterback Seth Rosenbauer. Rosenbauer received the majority of the snaps at running back in the first half, carrying the ball 12 times for 90 yards and adding a one-yard touchdown run of his own to make it 14-0.

Brown’s starting quarterback, senior Marcus Fuller, has had a solid start to the afternoon of his own right. He hit receiver Reiley Higgins for a 36-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 midway through the second quarter, and has averaged 7.7 yards per completion.

The Bears entered Saturday’s contest as one of the worst rushing teams in the Ivy League, averaging only 2.9 yards per carry. But they’ve rumbled for 131 yards so far.

If that number keeps ballooning, the Quakers won’t have a chance to come back.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.